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Cognitive Abilities in Bilinguals in L1 and L2

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Psychology of Bilingualism

Part of the book series: The Bilingual Mind and Brain Book Series ((BMBBS))

Abstract

The proportion of individuals who speak more than one language in the United States has significantly increased. Although there are apparent cultural benefits for children who are bilingual, providing instruction and proper evaluation of bilinguals’ cognitive abilities comes with significant challenges. These challenges are exacerbated by the limited research in this area and the known impact speaking two languages has on individuals’ cognitive abilities. In this chapter, the authors highlight the challenges of conducting cognitive assessments with bilinguals. The authors also propose a culturally and linguistically responsive framework for minimizing bias in the assessment of cognitive abilities of bilinguals. The proposed framework is composed of four steps that encourages practitioners to: (1) assess their client’s behavioral and linguistic acculturation; (2) assess their clients’ verbal language abilities in both languages; (3) determine potential issues with comparing their clients’ cognitive abilities with the normative samples of available tests; and (4) select most appropriate test given the client’s sociocultural/behavioral background, language abilities, and appropriateness of available tests. Implications for clinical practice are also discussed.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA

    Andy V. Pham Ph.D.

  2. Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA

    Sara Castro-Olivo Ph.D.

  3. New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA

    Heejung Chun Ph.D

  4. University of Montana, Missoula, MT, USA

    Anisa N. Goforth Ph.D.

Authors
  1. Andy V. Pham Ph.D.
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  2. Sara Castro-Olivo Ph.D.
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  3. Heejung Chun Ph.D
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  4. Anisa N. Goforth Ph.D.
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andy V. Pham Ph.D. .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Communication Sciences and Disorders, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA

    Alfredo Ardila

  2. Department of Psychology and Communication, Texas A&M International University, Laredo, Texas, USA

    Anna B. Cieślicka

  3. Department of Psychology and Communication, Texas A&M International University, Laredo, Texas, USA

    Roberto R. Heredia

  4. Department of Psychology, Florida Atlantic University, Davie, Florida, USA

    Mónica Rosselli

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Pham, A.V., Castro-Olivo, S., Chun, H., Goforth, A.N. (2017). Cognitive Abilities in Bilinguals in L1 and L2. In: Ardila, A., Cieślicka, A., Heredia, R., Rosselli, M. (eds) Psychology of Bilingualism. The Bilingual Mind and Brain Book Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64099-0_12

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